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of the Mokihinui Eiver on the old lead, which was worked for a certain distance and then lost many years ago. This lead was again discovered, and some of the parties have got very fair claims. I was informed, when in this district, that there is a small quantity of osmiridium found along with the gold, but no samples of this were obtainable. Charleston. —The alluvial workings at Charleston still continue to support a considerable population, but the ground is gradually getting worked out. However, now that the extension of the Argyle Water-race is completed there will be a considerable amount of new ground opened on the back lead, which it is considered will pay good wages for working. It is astonishing the amount of gold that is still found in the bed of the creek. People place wide boxes here, covering the bottom of them with cocoanut-matting, and allow the water and sediment that is flowing in the creek to pass over them. These require no attention beyond washing the matting occasionally. Some men make really good wages by this means. There are still a number of men working on the beach north of Charleston. The most of them have small areas of land cultivated, and when they cannot work profitably on the beach they employ the spare time on their land. Beach-workings require a man to be on the spot, as the action of the waves is continually shifting the sand every tide. One tide may cut away the light sand and material and leave the black iron-sand and gold in a thin layer on the surface, and the next tide may cover it entirely with a heavy deposit of worthless sand. If the men can get a few weeks' work when the beach is well cut away they can earn good wages, and sometimes get sufficient to keep them for twelve months. Croninville. —There are a few claims here that give good returns, but the quantity of water that can be brought on to the field is very limited. There seems to be a large area of auriferous ground here if there was water available for working it. Addison's Flat. —This place maintains its population, and is likely to do so yet for a considerable time. The workings are carried on here in a far more extensive manner than they were a few years ago, and some of the claims are paying very well for working. The general principle on which the claims are worked here is by having a drainage tail-race, which allows the drift to be washed in the bottom of the paddock, and the tailings hauled afterwards up an inclined tramway by means of a water-balance and stacked on the surface. Very rich gold was got here in the early days, and one of the rich leads got into deep, wet ground, which has never yet been worked. Many years ago a tail-race was constructed'for a long distance to drain this ground, but after it was completed it was found to be several feet too shallow to be effective, and consequently the scheme was abandoned. Eecently this ground has been again taken up, and from what I could learn when in this district, it is the intention to try to float a large company on the English market to work it. Several special claims have been granted last year on Addison's Flat, and the prospects of the place on the whole are very encouraging. Kumaea District. This is the largest mining centre in the colony where hydraulic-sluicing operations have been carried on. It was first opened in 1876, but for several years, owing to the limited supply of water on the field, the workings were to a great extent confined to tunnelling, sinking, and driving; but on the completion of the water-supply and sludge-channel, which was constructed by Government, the claims were opened out in a face, and the whole of the fine material removed by water. The large stones of which the wash-drift is full; are placed in trucks, and hauled up an incline by water-power, and stacked on the ground. The places where fresh claims were opened out for the purpose of being worked on this principle are getting pretty well washed away, where they are in close proximity to the sludge-channel. However, there is a great deal of ground yet that will pay for working. Eecently several claims have been opened out on a large flat known as Nardor Flat, which promises to give good returns. Some of these come close to the main Hokitika-Greymouth Eoad, between Kumara and the Teremakau Bridge ; indeed, the extent of auriferous-wash drifts in this district is not yet known. During last year the settlers who have freehold land on the bank of the Teremakau Eiver took steps to stop the miners from working, on the ground that the tailings from the claims were raising the bed of the river and damaging their lands. This now will be obviated by the river being declared a tailings-channel from the second day of August next. There is no doubt there is a great deal of poor auriferous ground on this field, but there is also a large area that will pay well for working and take many years to work out. It is a field which gives employment to a large mining population, and, notwithstanding the cry of the unemployed, any one willing to work here can always earn sufficient for a livelihood ; indeed, it may truly be said that extreme poverty is unknown on any of the alluvial goldfields in the colony. Waimea Distkict. This district still maintains a good population, and, although alluvial mining has been carried on here since 1865, there is still a great deal of auriferous ground that will pay small wages for working. The principal method of working here is by hydraulic sluicing, but in some instances tunnelling and driving is resorted too. Wheel of Fortune Company. —This company was formed in 1886, with a subscribed capital of £5,052, of which £3,000 has been expended on opening up their claim and on machinery. Their claim, consisting of twenty-eight acres, is situate on Ballarat Hill, but it is too deep to work on the ordinary hydraulic system. A long tail-race tunnel from Waimea Creek has been constructed for the purpose of carrying away the tail- and drainage-water, but sufficient fall could not be obtained to use this tail-race to carry away the tailings. They have therefore adopted a new system of working. A paddock has been sunk to about a depth of about 20ft. into the reef below the wash-drift, and timbered up. At each side of this paddock large hoppers are constructed, having a door and chute at the bottom. The gravel and wash-drift are sluiced into these hoppers by a hydraulic nozzle. At one end of the hopper there is an outlet for the water, which is carried down in a wooden box into